As a former fan of The O.C. who was so charmed by Season One that he stayed with it all the way through its dreadful, and mercifully final, Season Four, I have to admit that the idea of Adam Brody (aka nerdtagonist extraordinaire Seth Cohen) playing The Flash kinda works for me – i.e. provided The Flash will be nursing a wicked crush on Wonder Woman as that UGO script overview claimed a couple of months ago.
But if George Miller is thinking Superman or Batman for the young Mr. Brody, then this project is fucked beyond belief.
Looking over the list of young actors reportedly being auditioned by Miller right this very instant, it’s apparent that the Mad Max 1 – 3 auteur is going for cheap, young and vaguely familiar. Brody’s probably the biggest name on the list in terms of recognizability, followed closely by the Sky High duo of Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Michael Angarano (who’s way too slight for anything other than The Flash, too). Interestingly, Friday Night Lights‘ Minka Kelly, Scott Porter and Adrianne Palicki are all in the running (and should all be available soon, as their show’s second season is off to a morose, ratings-slaying start), while Joseph Cross (the lead from Running with Scissors), Teresa Palmer (Aussie, currently in December Boys), Max Thieriot (one of the kids from The Pacifier), and D.J. Cotrona (his father was the district attorney!!!) round out the list of hopefuls. Oh, and Common. Guess they’re serious about this whole John Stewart/Green Lantern business.
If Miller’s committed to making a semi-serious JLA movie, the potential casting of Common as the Green Lantern is encouraging. But it’s so incongruous. Common has a decade or more on most of these kids. Which makes me wonder if most of the above male names (i.e. Brody, Angarano, Cross and Thieriot) are in the running for The Flash and nothing else. Makes sense. That said, Porter and Cotrona are still awfully young for Superman and/or Batman. I understand the desire to cast young and let the actors grow into their roles, but what kind of growing is Common going to do between the ages of thirty-four and thirty-nine? Is Green Lantern being written as a mentor of sorts?
I’m pretending to care about this. The current screenplay for JLA is by Kieran and Michele Mulroney (of the "Dermot" Mulroneys – and that’s not a joke). Regardless of rewrites, the film should be headed into production very soon.